French Court reinstates Burkini Ban
In France, a court has overturned the decision of a city council which allowed women of Muslim descent to wear burkinis in public swimming pools.
According to a report by The National News UK, a French municipal council in the city of Grenoble originally removed its bathing dress code and allowed for the use of the Muslim wear in a vote taken on May 16.
However, this decision was met with protests from members of the far-right and debates about the state of France's secular values. This then led to the filing of an objection by the French Interior Ministry and soon a French administrative court overruled the decision taken by the city of Grenoble.
France is estimated to have the highest Muslim population in Europe–about five million and introduced a ban on full-face niqab and burqa in 2010.
Muslim rights organisations say that these bans take away the freedom to choose from Muslim women.
The original changes made by the Grenoble city council would have allowed all types of swimwear and not only traditional bathing suits for women and trunks for men. It would also have allowed women to bathe topless if they decided to.